President Donald Trump doubled down on his threat to strike vital Iranian infrastructure if no deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is reached by Tuesday evening, adding that negotiations are ongoing but time is running out for Tehran.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, repeating his 8:00 p.m. ET deadline for an agreement.
Hours before Trump’s comments, the Middle Eastern country rejected a Pakistan-backed ceasefire proposal to end the war and issued a 10-point response, Iranian state media reported. Trump described the counterproposal as “very significant” but said it was “not good enough.”
The president on Monday also detailed the harrowing rescue of two U.S. airmen from Iran after they ejected from a downed fighter jet. The operation involved a CIA deception campaign to throw off the Iranians as 155 aircraft moved into the interior of the country, Trump said. One airman was seriously injured and had to avoid detection for over 24 hours while treating his wounds, scaling mountainous terrain and communicating his location to U.S. forces.
Michael Loria
A press briefing on Iran war operations has reportedly been scrapped ahead of a threatened major escalation in the conflict.
The briefing was expected to happen at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon, 12 hours ahead of Trump’s deadline for strikes on Iranian infrastructure. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were expected to lead the briefing.
Journalists at multiple outlets, including Reuters and NewsNation, reported on the cancellation.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why officials scrapped the briefing.
Michael Loria
Army artillery troops from the Arkansas National Guard are being deployed to the Middle East, Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican and former Army officer, announced Monday evening.
“Today, the brave men and women of Arkansas’ 142nd Field Artillery Brigade depart for the Middle East,” Cotton said in a statement. “Arkansas is thankful for their service. May God protect them.”
According to reporting by the Arkansas Advocate, around 130 Arkansas National Guard members are being deployed. They are expected to relieve another guard unit overseas and serve in four undisclosed countries, the outlet said, citing the brigade commander.
Michael Loria
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said Monday evening that it thwarted an attack on targets in the eastern part of the kingdom.
“Interception and destruction of 7 ballistic missiles launched toward the eastern region, with debris from the ballistic missiles falling in the vicinity of energy facilities, and damage assessment ongoing,” the Saudi defense ministry said in a statement.
As of late March and early April 2026, Iran has conducted multiple direct attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting U.S. forces stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base, oil refineries, and the U.S. embassy in Riyadh with drones and missiles.
The statement comes hours after Kuwait said Monday morning that the Gulf state’s army responded to scores of Iranian drone, ballistic missiles and cruise missile attacks.
Shrapnel from the attacks landed in residential areas in the northern part of the Gulf country, wounding some, the Kuwait Army said.
Michael Loria
Military officials are denying claims that a U.S. vessel carrying thousands of sailors was attacked by Iran and forced to flee the region.
“USS Tripoli has not been attacked and continues to sail in the Arabian Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement regarding supposed attacks on the amphibious assault ship deployed to the Middle East.
The vessel leads the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group carrying the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, according to Central Command. The force is composed of about 3,500 sailors and Marines.
U.S. military officials published the statement in response to claims made by Iranian state media that the Tripoli “faced a wave of fast missile launches from Iran.”
“Following these attacks, the ship was forced to retreat deep into the South Indian Ocean,” according to Iranian state media.
It’s unclear where exactly the Tripoli is located. The vessel is based out of San Diego. It’s part of a massive force mustered to the Middle East. Satellite imagery showed the Tripoli traveling across the South China Sea on March 15. Central Command said on March 30 the vessel was in the Indian Ocean. According to the U.S. Naval Institute News’ fleet tracker, the ship is located within the Central Command’s area of responsibility, which stretches from Egypt to Kazakhstan.
USA TODAY has reached out to Central Command for further information.
Michael Loria
Trump has called his ultimatum to Iran their final chance to come to the negotiating table and make a deal to end the war. But the president’s threats come after a string of earlier deadlines that he pushed back. Here’s a look:
Michael Loria
Inflation will rise and economic growth across the world will slow as a result of the war with Iran, the leader of the International Monetary Fund told Reuters Monday.
The warning from the head of the global financial organization comes as Iran has leveraged its ability to block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to disrupt global fuel supplies. Global oil supply has shrunk by 13%, according to the IMF.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, told Reuters that the fund expects to lower its global economic growth projections down from 3.3% in 2026 and 3.2% in 2027.
“All roads now lead to higher prices and slower growth,” said Georgieva. The longer the war lasts, the worse the fund expects projections could become, according to the IMF.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Trump said very few targets will be “off limits” if a deal with Iran is not reached by the 8 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday and the Strait of Hormuz is not opened for free passage of vessels. He refused to elaborate on what targets would be off limits for U.S strikes, such as school or other sensitive sites.
“We have a plan because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by (midnight) tomorrow night. Where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again,” he said.
“I mean, complete demolition by (midnight) and it’ll happen over a period of four hours if we wanted to,” he added.
Zac Anderson
Trump ended his Monday press conference on Iran by bashing American allies, including South Korea, for not helping more with the war. He also used a slur that references people with developmental disabilities to describe former President Joe Biden.
Noting that the United States has troops in South Korea to protect the country from North Korea, which is run by dictator Kim Jong Un, Trump alleged Kim previously used the slur to describe Biden.
The comments come on the heels of a strongly worded social media post over the weekend where Trump used expletives in threatening Iran, departing from typical presidential decorum.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Asked by a reporter at the White House if all top officials were on board with the weekend operation to rescue missing airmen in Iran – or if there were people who doubted the mission – Trump said some military leaders expressed concerns.
“Not everybody was on board,” he said, noting that some felt they’d risk the lives of additional U.S. service members. “There were military people, very professional, that preferred not doing it.”
He then turned to Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and asked him how many men had been sent on the rescue mission.
“I’d love to keep that a secret,” Caine said.
“Okay. But I will tell you the number, I’ll keep it a secret, but it was hundreds of hundreds of these people,” said Trump.
Christopher Cann
Trump told reporters on Monday that he “can’t talk about” a potential ceasefire with Iran following reports that the country rejected a proposal put forward by intermediaries on Monday.
Still, a deal isn’t completely off the table. Trump said negotiations with Iran have continued ahead of deadline he gave the country to strike a deal – or risk attacks on critical infrastructure.
“We have an active, willing participant on the other side. They would like to make a deal,” he said, without elaborating.
Christopher Cann
Trump described what he called the “largest and most complex” search-and-rescue mission attempted by the U.S. military.
The president said American armed forces sent some 200 personnel and at least 155 aircraft to rescue the airmen as “thousands” of Iranians were looking for them.
“It was a hard decision to make,” he said. “A risky decision because we could have ended up with 100 dead as opposed to one or two.”
Speaking from the White House, Trump said U.S. aircraft flew at low altitudes and took “heavy enemy fire,” adding, “It’s amazing that nobody was even injured.”
Trump highlighted the resolve of the second airman, who was “bleeding profusely” as he scaled mountainous terrain and sent his coordinates to U.S. armed forces. He was rescued after more than 40 hours, Trump said, adding that military officials had to send in “lighter” aircraft to extract the crew member because the initial planes were too heavy.
Zac Anderson
As he threatened to take out Iranian bridges and power plants, Trump told reporters that Iranian civilians are willing to take on the burden of the United States destroying the country’s infrastructure.
“They would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom,” Trump said when pressed by a reporter about the impact to civilians.
Trump set a deadline of 8 p.m. on Tuesday before the United States starts the critical resources. He has also dismissed accusations that targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
While describing the rescue of a U.S. fighter jet crew member, Trump said he would track down the person who leaked that information to the media, allegedly endangering the mission.
“We’re looking very hard to find that leaker and talk about there’s somebody missing. They basically said that we have one and there’s somebody missing,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Well, they didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information.”
Trump said he’ll identify the individual by going to the media organization that first broke the story.
“We’re going to go to the media company that released it and we’re going to say, national security, give it up. They’ll go to jail,” he said. “Because when they did that, all of a sudden the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life.”
Zac Anderson
The U.S. military is unleashing an intense barrage of strikes on Iran ahead of the Tuesday ultimatum Trump gave Tehran’s leaders to make a deal in the ongoing war.
“Per the president’s direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation,” Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said during a Monday news conference. “Tomorrow, even more than today. And then Iran has a choice. Choose wisely, because this president does not play around.”
Trump gave Iran until 8 p.m. on Tuesday to make a deal, writing on social mediaover the weekend: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—— Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth compared the second rescued airman of the jet shot down by Iran last week to Jesus Christ.
The airman was shot down on Good Friday, hid in a crevice for more than a day and was “flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday,” Hegseth said.
The airman’s first message when he was finally able to activate his emergency transponder was “God is good,” Hegseth told reporters.
The secretary has held monthly Christian worship services in the Pentagon that critics have said inappropriately politicize the military. At a recent service, he called for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
Christopher Cann
CIA Director John Ratcliffe described his agency’s role in rescuing U.S. airmen after a fighter jet was shot down over Iranian territory.
Ratcliffe, speaking to reporters from the White House, said the CIA engaged in a “deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airmen.”
“Because it is the unique tradition of the U.S. armed forces that we leave no man or woman behind, this was a no fail mission,” Ratcliffe said. He added that CIA intelligence reflects that “the Iranians were embarrassed and ultimately humiliated by the success of this audacious rescue mission.”
Zac Anderson
The rescue of the U.S. fighter jet crew member involved a massive mobilization of U.S. military assets that included extensive efforts to deceive the Iranians among American intelligence officials, Trump told reporters on Monday.
“We were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge,” Trump said at his Monday press conference. “We wanted to have them think he was in a different location… so we were scattered all over.”
The crew member was rescued in a dramatic operation that included 155 aircraft and dozens of soldiers, Trump said.
Zac Anderson
Having set a deadline of Tuesday night for Iran to agree to a pivotal deal or face annihilation, Trump reiterated his threat in a press conference Monday.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said.
The president issued an ultimatum on social media over the weekend, declaring: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—— Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.” He followed up with a deadline of 8 p.m. on April 7.
Francesca Chambers
Trump rejected concerns that bombing power plants and bridges could constitute a war crime by the United States if he moves ahead with a threat to blast civilian infrastructure.
“I’m not worried about it,” Trump told a reporter. “You know what’s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon. Allowing a sick country with demented leadership to have a nuclear weapons, that’s a war crime.”
Christopher Cann
Trump told reporters Monday outside the White House that Americans who don’t support continued conflict with Iran are “foolish because the war is about one thing: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Nationwide polls show that around half of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war or the overall military actions in Iran.
The lack of support has had an impact on Trump’s personal approval rating, which recently fell to its lowest level since he returned to the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll from late March found.
Christopher Cann
President Donald Trump said Monday that if he could have his way, the U.S. would seize Iran’s oil but acknowledged Americans’ desire for a quick end to the war.
“If I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil, because it’s there for the taking. There’s not a thing they can do about it,” he said.
“Unfortunately the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me I’d take the oil, I’d keep the oil and would make plenty of money,” he said, adding, “I just don’t think the people of the United States would really understand.”
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that two-thirds of Americans think the U.S. should end the Iran war soon, even if that means not achieving the goals set out by the Trump administration.
Karissa Waddick
Asked Monday about her Easter message to children in war-torn regions, first lady Melania Trump said she was hoping for future peace.
The president quickly butted in, saying children were a focus of his war in Iran.
“We’re fighting for children that are now in a war zone,” President Trump said of the U.S.-led conflict. “We’re fighting for them, we’re fighting for their future.”
Christopher Cann
President Donald Trump said if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz and make a deal to end the war, the country will “have no bridges, no power plants, no anything.”
Trump, speaking to reporters after an Easter event at the White House on Monday, said Iran has been “obliterated” but does not want to admit defeat.
“They don’t want to cry, as the expression goes, uncle, but they will,” Trump said.
Christopher Cann
President Donald Trump said Iran’s proposal was significant but not good enough as he vowed to bomb the country’s energy sites on Tuesday if the Islamic Republic refuses to make a deal.
“They’ve made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “It’s not good enough, but it’s a very significant step.”
Trump said the Tuesday deadline he has set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz is final.
Christopher Cann
Iran has issued a 10-point response to the ceasefire proposal that was sent to the Iranians and the U.S. by mediators overnight, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Demands from the Iranian leadership include a permanent end to the war, a lifting of sanctions and a protocol for safe passage along the Strait of Hormuz.
The response casts doubt on the chances of the U.S. and Iran reaching an agreement before President Trump’s Tuesday deadline for the country to open the strait, a critical trade route.
Christopher Cann
President Donald Trump threatened to destroy all power plants in Iran if the country does not open the Strait of Hormuz and argued that the country’s 93 million residents want more U.S. military action.
“If they don’t come through, if they want to keep it closed, they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country,” Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Sunday, adding: “If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plants and they won’t have any bridges standing.”
When asked if hitting civilian infrastructure would hurt Iranians, Trump said, “No, they want us to do it” because they are “living in hell.”
Experts have said that intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure, including energy sites and bridges, could constitute a war crime under international law. Trump has previously threatened to strike Iran’s desalination plants.
Christopher Cann
The Israeli military on Monday said it struck the largest petrochemical complex in Iran, delivering a major financial blow to the Islamic Republic.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the strike knocked out about half of Iran’s petrochemical production. The facility is located in Asaluyeh, in southern Iran.
Later in the day, Iranian state media said U.S.-Israeli forces attacked another petrochemical complex in Marvdasht, but that there was no significant damage.
Christopher Cann
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said in a statement that the region could go “dark” if President Donald Trump carries out his threat of striking Iran’s power infrastructure.
“The rulers of #Arab_countries should, in order to prevent the region from going dark, make Trump understand that the #Persian_Gulf is not a place for gambling,” said Aliakbar Velayati on X.
Christopher Cann
A barrage of airstrikes hit Iran on Monday, as the U.S. and Israel stepped up their attacks on the country.
Sharif University in Tehran, one of Iran’s leading scientific universities, was severely damaged in airstrike, state media reported. Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said “Israeli-U.S. aggressors have bombed the MIT of Iran,” in a post on X.
He added: “Aggressors will see our might.”
Christopher Cann
The president of the European Council on Monday urged Iran to stop striking its regional neighbors and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Escalation will not achieve a ceasefire and peace. Only negotiations will, namely the ongoing efforts led by regional partners,” António Costa said in a statement on X.
Costa also said “Any targeting of civilian infrastructure, namely energy facilities, is illegal and unacceptable” and added that the Iranian population would be the “main victim of a widening of the military campaign.”
Christopher Cann
Israel on Monday said it killed two high-ranking members of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, as the two countries increased their attacks on one another.
The Israeli military said it killed Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, the guard’s intelligence chief, and Asghar Bakeri, the leader of the Quds Force’s special operations unit.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it targeted a U.S. amphibious assault ship LHA-7, Iranian state media reported on Monday.
Christopher Cann
The United States and Iran have received a 45-day ceasefire proposal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, multiple news outlets reported.
The framework was organized and delivered by Pakistan overnight, Reuters and The Associated Press reported, citing Israeli and Mideast officials. It would involve an initial ceasefire during which talks would be held for a more lasting agreement.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday said it will soon announce its response to the ceasefire proposal. Iran dismissed an earlier U.S. framework as “excessive.”
Kim Hjelmgaard
Iran’s foreign ministry said it will soon announce its response to a ceasefire proposal delivered by intermediaries. Pakistan has been leading efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the war. Esmaeil Baghaei, an Iran foreign ministry spokesman, said in a news conference that Tehran viewed earlier U.S. demands for a ceasefire as “excessive.” The White House has given Iran a Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Thao Nguyen
In his Easter message on Sunday, Pope Leo urged world leaders to end conflicts and turn to peace.
“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars,” Leo told the thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The pope’s brief address came as Trump faced criticism for his mixed messaging over the war in Iran. In at least seven interviews on Sunday, the president continued to make threats against Iran while also using religious rhetoric to praise the rescue of the U.S. airman whose fighter jet was shot down on April 3.
“The rescue was an Easter Miracle,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and some cabinet members followed with messages of their own. In a social media post, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent drew on the symbolism of Easter, the day Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
“The Easter miracle is considered the greatest victory in history,” Bessent said on X. “And so, it (is) fitting on this holiest of Christian days that a brave American warrior was rescued from behind enemy lines in one of the greatest search and rescue missions in military history.”
Contributing: Reuters
James Powel
Trump said Iranian forces “got lucky” when they shot down the F-15E Strike Eagle and that officials initially feared that a radio message from a now recovered crew member was a trap in an interview with Axios on Sunday.
He told the outlet that the United States had “beeping information” on the airman recovered on April 4. Trump added that a message sent after the airman ejected, which he described as “something a Muslim would say,” caused officials to suspect a potential trap.
An unnamed defense official told Axios that the radio message from the weapons officer was “God is good.” Trump said that those who knew the officer explained that he was religious and that it would make sense for him to say the phrase.